The Wetfoot Blog

Monday, April 5, 2010

Book It: Suggestions to Great "Off Season" Reads (2 of 3)

“As complex as the brain is, the world is more so” (71).Photo: Ben Creagh

Knowing and understanding how your own decisions are made will help you become a more skilled and valuable leader.

Laurence Gonzales’ book Deep Survival, Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why, is a good read for anyone interested in how the brain works in certain situations, and why. The title is intesne but the content is very sophisticated in it's discourse of good and poor decision making. Gonzales uses factual examples of survival situations, and breaks them down into simple reasons as to why each situation became severe and where the error in judgment occurred.

The book is divided into two sections, with the first being “How Accidents Happen” which details some common faults found in accidents. The second section, labeled “Survival” goes over key points in decision making that lead to success from a stressful situation.

We do more than simply survive at Camp Manito-wish YMCA on trail, but nonetheless many lessons can be learned from this book. It can serve as a way to analyze the thoughts of others who have made mistakes, understand them, and to improve our own decision making while increasing our enjoyment of this complex world. These decision making skills that are accquired "on trail" are transferable for the rest of our lives.

Let me know what you think of Deep Survival, Who lives, Who Dies, and Why. What will you be able to apply from this book tomorrow, this summer, next year?